Monthly Archives: August 2011
Economics for Politicians Lesson 2: Introduction to Microeconomics – Why Prices Matter [Reader Post]
Welcome to lesson II of “Economics for Politicians”! In the first lesson we explained who the government’s money belongs to (the people), and now we move on to Lesson 2 – a basic introduction to Microeconomic Theory. Hey! Stop – don’t get up and leave! Contrary to what you may have heard economics is not necessarily boring, and this lesson will be a huge help in your crafting policy that will get you re-elected! Continue reading
The past week has been a nothing if not confusing… From the President talking about his plan which mysteriously no one ever saw to John Boehner fighting off an attack from Tea Party “Hobbits” because they said his plan was almost interchangeable with Harry Reid’s. As of Sunday night the Boehner, Reid, Obama triad had cobbled together something that “cuts” federal spending by $2.4 trillion while raising the debt ceiling by about the same. Finally! Some clarity that makes this mess easy to understand for we simpletons… Continue reading
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) statement: “The current, so-called `debt crisis’ has been completely manufactured by House Republicans attempting to advance an extremist agenda. This should be a simple vote to allow the US Treasury to fund all of the programs and obligations of the entire federal government that are already in the law.”
Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi statement: “It is clear we must enter an era of austerity; to reduce the deficit through shared sacrifice.” Continue reading
Last night our lawmakers got a deal done to balance the budget and raise the debt limit. A powerpoint was released by Boehner’s officer:
But here are the highlights from Jake Tapper:
- More than $900 billion in deficit reduction over 10 years through discretionary spending caps . $350 billion of that comes from the Pentagon;
- Debt limit increased by at least $2.1 trillion — through 2013…see below for more on how that happens;
Democrats are pulling out all the rhetorical stops in attacking Republicans regarding the debt ceiling debate:
The irrepressible Van Jones
Any faction in America that would put a gun to the head of 310 million people and say ‘If you don’t do it our way, we will blow your dreams away, we will blow a hole in the American economy’, that is un-American. That is not how we do business, and we refuse to bow down to those tactics.” Continue reading